Why Jerry Manuel cracks me up

Jerry Manuel says what he thinks.  Every time.  Without fail.  (Hence the Manuel’s Musing.)

Yesterday we heard Manuel compare Ryan Church to David Wright.  Wright, Manuel said, “is made up a little different” than Church.

Current player, ex-player or anyone at all shouldn’t have to hear this from a manager’s mouth.  Maybe a player after a plunking or bushleague play, but a manager should keep his trap shut unless it’s entirely necessary.  And this was far from it.

Manuel keeps people on the edge of their seat with what he’s going to say next, but this was a little too far.  He needs to think about his words might mean to someone else before he blurts it out.

Still, he’s always entertaining.

An eight-run frame and an injured Ollie

I watched the Mets put up eight runs in an inning last night.  I wasn’t dreaming.  It wasn’t a video game.  And it wasn’t a Mets Classic.

The New York Mets, with this lineup, put up eight runs in an inning.

The bottom of the 4th inning saw 10 hits, the most in franchise history in one inning.  Gary Sheffield and Luis Castillo each picked up two hits, driving in two runs a piece.  Jeff Francoeur, Fernando Tatis, Anderson Hernandez and Angel Pagan each drove in one.

Who woulda thunk it?

And Oliver Perez, forever the enigma, threw 81 pitches over five innings.  He let up two home runs, accounting for the four runs.  Perez walked one and struck out four.

Jerry Manuel later said that he removed Perez from the game due to pain behind his knee, the same knee that landed him on the DL earlier in the season.

An eight-run inning and possibly losing another player to injury.  Something so rare and something so common.  Oh, 2009.

Manuel’s Musing(s)

“There's no ill intent. I don't mean to take a shot at him. If that's how he felt, I apologize to him. I like Ryan Church.”

-Jerry Manuel on his feelings for Ryan Church

and

“Anderson is a guy we're going to look very closely at. We feel very confident he's a good second baseman in this league”

-Jerry Manuel on Anderson Hernandez’s talent

Lineup for Game 119

In a face-off of off-season free agents, Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets and Derek Lowe will take the mound for the Braves.  Here’s the lineup the Mets will run out…

1. Angel Pagan – CF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. Gary Sheffield – LF
4. Daniel Murphy – 1B
5. Jeff Francoeur – RF
6. Fernando Tatis – 3B
7. Omir Santos – C
8. Anderson Hernandez – SS
9. Oliver Perez - LHP

Valdez takes Cora’s spot on roster

As expected, Wilson Valdez has officially taken Alex Cora’s spot on the 25-man roster, reports Adam Rubin.

Cora, who will have surgery on both thumbs due to torn ligaments in each, will miss the remainder of the season.

Valdez was pulled from the Bisons game last night in anticipation of a call-up.  Valdez was 12-for-his-last-27 with Triple-A Buffalo. 

He hit .208 / .269 / .333 with three RBI in 26 plate appearances with the Mets in 11 games earlier this year.

Bobby Bonilla’s back on the payroll in 2011

Joe Foriello of DisgruntledMetsFan.com just tweeted something that I had completely forgotten about.

Here’s his tweet:

Does anyone realize that starting in 2011, the New York Mets will pay Bobby Bonilla $1.2 mil / year for 25 years? What an organization!

That’s right.  Starting July 1, 2011, and on every July 1 until 2035, the Mets will send a check  to Bobby Bonilla worth $1,193,248.20.

When the Mets released Bonilla in January of 2000, instead of picking up the $5.9 million owed to him for that year, they agreed to pay him nearly $1.2 million over the course of 25 years.  That’s almost $30 million.

Yikes.

Might as well bring him back as a coach somewhere for that much money.  Or have him cut the grass at Citi Field.

Or maybe he can play left field.

‘Bloomberg’s Head’ [Photo]

My cousin Andrea sent this picture that one of her friends took at last night’s game.  It’s great.Thanks, Andrea!

Draft pick signings

According to Baseball America, the Mets signed 35 of their of their 49 draft picks.

Noteable signings: Steven Matz (2nd round / 72nd overall), Robbie Shields (3rd round, 103rd overall), Darrell Ceciliani (4th round, 134th overall), Darin Gorski (7th round, 224th overall), Taylor Freeman (8th round, 254th overall) and Jeff Glenn (9th round, 284th overall).

Noteable non-signings: Damien Magnifico (5th round, 164th overall), David Buchanan (6th round, 194th overall)

For the full list of draft picks that signed with the Mets, head over to Baseball America.

Manuel’s Musing

“We're going to stay where we are.”

-Jerry Manuel on Livan Hernandez

What a stinker!

Last night may have been one of the more boring games of the 2009 campaign.  Unless you were a Giants fan.

From Livan Hernandez hemorrhaging hits to a lineup that was beyond putrid, the game was an all-around disaster.  My record at Citi Field fell from the perfect 3-0, to a less cool 3-1 because of last night’s mess of a game.

Do you want to know, in one very simple explanation, why last night was one of the worst games all year?  Because when Andy Green, the 32-year-old who was called up to replace David Wright on the roster, came to the plate in the 9th inning down nine runs with the stadium almost completely empty, he garnered the loudest cheer of the night.Cheers of “AN-DY GREEN!” reverberated throughout the stadium and the crowd went wild when he worked out a walk.

Of course, he was snuffed out on the very next play as Cory Sullivan grounded into an inning-ending double play, but it was fun while it lasted.

Again, a terrible game on a beautiful night.  I now own a .750 winning percentage at Citi Field, which I will take over my sub-.500 winning percentage from Shea Stadium any day of the week.

Check out MetsGrrl.com for a much more awesome photo of the savior we call “Andy Green.”